Chapter 109 – Choices

[298 AC]

Sitting at the head of the Painted Table with the missing wall to his back, Phenex' gaze wandered over those present in the small chamber.

Arianne sat in the seat to his left side, while Kinvara sat to his right. He had brought her to Dragonstone from Volantis, mostly because he had missed her greatly, though her advice was also incomparably valuable.

The island had been managed by the Red Temple during Stannis' absence and had been well taken care of, while all of the smallfolk had already become firm believers of the temple.

As such there was no worry for spies, which made the island the perfect base from which the Red Temple's conquest of Westeros could begin. Its location only a few hours journey from King's Landing, as well as being easily accessible from all sides while surrounded by the Narrow Sea, was a huge advantage.

Stannis sat at the opposite end of the table with his wife at one side, while a few trusted generals under him from the Red Temple filled in the rest of the seats, along with two experienced members from the Hidden Flame branch, which were responsible for intel gathering, espionage, infiltration, and assassination.

One of them was a thin older man named Qorik, while the other was a stout middle-aged man named Levo.

"The royal fleet?", Phenex asked into the room, his gaze on the Commander of the temple's naval forces and the priests from the Hidden Flame branch.

"The seeds we placed have already taken action, my Lord. We have received confirmation from all 323 ships, that they have already set course to Pentos where they will be restocked with supplies and be manned by the temple's soldiers.", one of the Hidden Flame priests stated before Stannis continued.

Like it had always been the plan, the royal fleet had been taken back under the Red Temple's control via the many men that had been acting as sleeper agents amongst the crew, along with the assassins sent by the Hidden Flame.

With Brynden Tully's death and the current unstable situation of the Realm, this had been an exceptionally well-timed move, as it had directly removed a variable from the board. Without the fleet King's Landing also had no way of protecting itself against Renly's eventual attacks in the near future, nor could these troops be used to support the Young Wolf Robb Stark.

"They will then be split up and meet up with different parts of the main fleet. Currently, we also have about another three hundred ships in waiting, to be sent into battle at a moment's notice, my Lord. The rest of the fleet is patrolling the Sunset Sea, the Summer Sea, and the entrance to the Jade Sea."

"Hmm.", Phenex hummed in understanding, "Keep up the regular patrols, but have those ships that are not needed for patrols stay near the Stepstones."

"What about the situation in King's Landing?", Phenex questioned the spymasters of the temple, even though he could directly gain insight into this matter through his magic.

This report served to give the rest of those present a more accurate picture of what was going on in the capital.

"High Priestess Melisandre has been appointed as mistress of whisperers and Tywin Lannister had been named Hand of the King. The rest of the positions are still the same or vacated at the moment.", Qorik answered.

"Jeoffrey Baratheon has been crowned King and the Stark sisters still seemed to be in good health, even though the younger one tends to get disciplined regularly by the Septa that has been sent to watch over her."

"The former Queen has not yet broken off the engagement between Sansa Stark and her son, though it is likely that this will happen the moment the Lannister army triumphs over the Northern forces in the field.", he ended his short report.

"Having one of the Stark girls married to the younger brother of the King and installed as the Lady of Winterfell would certainly make sense. It would secure the throne's control over the North and the King would be free to marry another more promising prospect than the child of a traitor.", Kinvara added with a thoughtful look, being no stranger to such political maneuvers.

"Only if they win the war.", Phenex remarked, "In case they lose it, I don't doubt for a second that the Queen would just have the girls killed before fleeing towards the East."

"So what should be done?", Arianne asked calmly, already thinking about possible moves the Red Temple could make to gain further advantages.

"Nothing."

"Nothing."

"Nothing."

Phenex, Kinvara, and even Stannis answered simultaneously, which caused them to share a smile, even the normally stoic Commander's lips quirked upwards for a bit.

"Acting now would be a rash move, Arianne.", Kinvara explained, "The conflict is just starting, and as such, the outcome is rather unpredictable. Intervening at this time without knowing who holds the advantage and with what actions we can have the most success of furthering our goal isn't a wise thing."

Phenex nodded his head in agreement, as he added: "A war with so many parties involved could end in a series of different scenarios and it is best to let all the players reveal their cards first and exhaust their moves, before taking action and reaping the benefits."

"The Red Temple may be able to easily defeat the armies of the different Lords and conquer Westeros, but the only thing we would gain would be endless revolts and resistance at every corner at this point."

"We don't have to conquer the Seven Kingdoms to rule them, Arianne.", Phenex ended, "At least not yet."

…

Approaching a cliffside overlooking the sea, Phenex saw Jaehaerys staring into the distance quietly. He had felt him and Daenerys arriving at Dragonstone on their dragons a few hours ago and he had been busy with spending some time with the female Targaryen dragonrider since then.

Nevertheless, Phenex knew that Jaehaerys was troubled by the most recent events that had taken place in King's Landing concerning his uncle Eddard Stark, though the young man most certainly didn't care about Catelyn Stark's demise, considering how she had treated him in the past.

Feeling the salty breeze from the Narrow Sea blowing past his form, Phenex stepped beside the young dragonrider and addressed him quietly.

"Daenerys tells me that she had trouble convincing you to not fly Lyra to the Riverlands and lay waste to the Lannister army. It seems you have calmed down somewhat now.", he said.

"I have.", Jeahaerys answered, while smiling wryly.

Sighing quietly, the young dragonrider continued in a low tone: "My uncle, he- … He brought this upon himself the moment he left Winterfell. Like you have taught me in the past, we all make our choices and my uncle made his."

"And no matter how much I desire to take Lyra and rain fire down on Jaime Lannister and his troops, I am a dragonrider of the Red Temple and have my own duties and consideration. I am aware of that now that I have calmed down."

"Still, I do find myself wishing that I had the chance to talk to him one last time. There was still so much I had wanted to ask him about my mother … ", the boy voiced out softly.

Hearing these words reminded Phenex of all the questions his mother had left unanswered with her death. His own hand lightly rubbing over the spot directly above his heart, he remarked quietly: "Some questions are just not meant to be answered, Jaehaerys. Even for beings like me."

Patting the boy on the shoulder, Phenex slowly turned around and left, the young man being surprised for a moment at the grief and understanding he had detected in Phenex' voice.